Genetic Genealogy Cracks 53-Year-Old Cold Case: Investigators Still Need Your Help
Fifty-three years after the remains of an unidentified little boy were found in Fairfax County, Virginia, the Fairfax County Police Department announced today that John Lorton Doe 1972 is 4-year-old Carl Matthew Bryant.
"This case has always been important to me," said Fairfax County Police Detective Melissa Wallace. "To see the extent of his injuries and what he suffered through, I am happy to be here today to say that we have identified him. He can finally have his name, a gravestone, and his family can have some semblance of closure."
On June 13, 1972, a local teenager discovered the body of a young boy in a creek in southern Fairfax County. Estimated to be between 3 and 6 years old, he had died from blunt force trauma less than 24 hours before being found. With no identification and few clues, the child’s identity remained a mystery for decades.
In 2004, NCMEC joined the case, creating and distributing a facial reconstruction of what the child may have looked like. Around the same time, the FBI developed a limited DNA profile from hairs collected during the original autopsy. Although it was entered into a national database, there were no matches, and it was too incomplete for further analysis.
In 2013, NCMEC’s Team Adam, a group of retired law enforcement professionals, revisited the case with local officials. Efforts to exhume the child’s remains failed due to storm damage and missing burial records. Instead, NCMEC submitted the last viable hair samples to Astrea Forensics for advanced testing. In 2021, a viable genetic profile was developed and sent to Innovative Forensic Investigations, who identified a promising lead through genealogy research: a possible maternal aunt in Philadelphia.
Further investigation revealed the maternal aunt had a sister, Vera Bryant, who died in 1980 in Philadelphia. Before her death, Vera had two sons: Carl, born in 1968, and James, born in 1972.
Family members said that when James was an infant, Vera and her boyfriend, James Hedgepeth, left town with both boys, saying they were going to Virginia to visit Hedgepeth’s family...but they arrived without the children. When Vera returned to Pennsylvania, she told relatives the boys were with Hedgepeth’s family. The Bryant family never saw Carl or James again.
With no proof of life for either boy and Carl’s age aligning with the unidentified child, investigators pursued the possible connection. In 2023, NCMEC worked with the Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s Office to exhume Vera Bryant’s remains. After two rounds of testing, Astrea Forensics confirmed in April 2025 that she was the child’s biological mother.
A few months later, the unidentified boy was positively identified as Carl Bryant. Unfortunately, there are no photographs of Carl, so NCMEC’s facial reconstruction is being used to show what he may have looked like.
Facial reconstruction of Carl Bryant. (Credit: NCMEC)
"After 53 years, we finally know that John Lorton Doe 1972 is Carl Bryant," said Carol Schweitzer, program manager of NCMEC’s Forensic Services Unit. "This identification highlights the incredible power of persistence, collaboration, and unwavering hope. It’s the result of many organizations and agencies who refused to let this child’s story be forgotten."
Although Carl has been identified, investigators still need your help. According to a press release from Fairfax County Police, detectives believe Vera Bryant and James Hedgepeth, both now deceased, were involved in Carl’s murder. They also suspect that his little brother, James, just 6 months old when the couple left Pennsylvania, may have been killed around the same time.
Investigators believe the children’s deaths occurred somewhere between Philadelphia and Middlesex County, Virginia. Police released a map detailing the route Vera and Hedgepeth may have taken, and they believe James' remains could have been left along that path.
Vera and Hedgepeth’s possible route in 1972. (Credit: Fairfax County Police Department)
Investigators said Hedgepeth had a violent history, including a murder conviction in the 1960s. Now, they’re asking anyone who may have known Vera Bryant or James Hedgepeth to come forward.
They’re also asking law enforcement agencies who have unidentified infant remains from the 1970s, particularly in Virginia or Pennsylvania, to contact Fairfax County’s Major Crimes Bureau at 703-246-7800.
Tips can also be submitted anonymously through Crime Solvers by phone at 1-866-411-8477.
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For more information on unidentified cases at NCMEC, visit our website here: https://www.ncmec.org/theissues/helpidme.